


first night / first morning

by kathasaurus_rex



Series: in the after [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Gay Will Byers, M/M, Mike Wheeler Loves Eleven | Jane Hopper, Moving, Sad, Sad Eleven | Jane Hopper, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 00:25:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19734661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathasaurus_rex/pseuds/kathasaurus_rex
Summary: Will is the only piece of home that El feels like she has left. The first night is hard - the first morning is easier.





	first night / first morning

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in a whole hour and it's a hot mess. Please excuse my emo-ness and enjoy this hot mess. Sibling fics are the best!!! 
> 
> -Kath

The new house was cold. That's the first thing that El registered when she stepped inside, box in hand, and it overwhelmed her instantly. She was crying again - she could feel the tears streaming down over the dry skin of her cheeks, and she still felt so raw, like her ribcage couldn't expand properly, the weight of leaving, the weight of all she'd lost and all she found pressing down on her so harshly.

"El?" 

She turned, fingers clenched so tight against the box that the skin beneath her nails had gone white, and there was Will, a pile of blankets in his arms. She choked out a sob and he was  _ there _ , the blankets and the box hitting the wood floor as they collided, his arms wrapping around her easily, one of the few pieces of there, of  _ home  _ that she still had left. 

///

The bedroom was cold. It was cold because it was October and the heating was still in the process of being fixed ("by next week, guys, I promise," Joyce had said, smile on her face) but El was uncomfortable. The bed was too large without… no, she wasn't going to think about his absence, not yet. But no, she didn't want to be alone. It would not do.

The floors there creaked in ways she had not learned yet, and she winced with each abrasive noise as she moved quickly over to the door, pulling it open slowly and walking out into the hallway. Will's room was… was right across the hall. But would he be up to visitors? It was late… It only took her a few short moments to decide, and she took two steps forward to carefully knock against the door. 

The squeak of a mattress. "Uh… come in?" El turned the knob and walked inside. 

Will was already in pajamas, leaned back against his pile of pillows. His eyes were rimmed with red, his hair still wet from a shower. She had showered herself - cried herself fresh out of tears while she did so - so she understood. 

"Can't sleep?" he asked. She shook her head, letting out a sniffle. "Wanna come lay down with me for a bit?" At that she nodded, walking forward a bit to let the door close and moving to slide under the blankets beside him, feeling him shift until they could settle.

It was strange, how they turned and shimmied and slid around until they were lying on their sides, facing each other, curved in identical commas, forming a human heart beneath the sheets. 

"You wanna hear a funny story?" Will croaked out. 

"Always," El replied. 

"When… when Mike and I were kids… well, you know that we were inseparable. I had a real shit time of it, and Mike and Jonathan were the only people besides Mom that I trusted, and Mike, well, he was shiny and brand new, and I was the same to him." Will said, smiling sadly. "And the first time I slept over at his house, I wet the bed. You know he had that bunk bed in his room forever, and he wanted us to bunk together so that we could talk about planets, and… I hadn't done it in a while at home, so I thought I was in the clear, y'know, but I did it and I was so embarrassed. I was only seven and I was crying on Mike's bedroom floor after his Mom had to strip his sheets, and he reached over, and he held my hand. And he said, 'don't worry about it, Will, pee's sterile.'" 

El snorted out a laugh, turning to bury her face against the pillow, because if that wasn't MIke, then nothing was. "He… seven?" 

Will nodded, laughing as well. "Yeah. I don't know how he knew that, but once I asked him what 'sterile' meant, he went into a long explanation and I managed to calm down. And that's how I knew that Mike Wheeler would always be my best friend." 

She sniffled, reaching up to rub absentmindedly at her nose. "I… can I tell a story?" Will nodded. "You know he used to come over and see me e-every night. And I know it took a lot of time away from you and the guys, and I'm  _ sorry _ , but -" 

"Don't apologize. It's okay. I wanna hear the story, tell me." 

"One night, he was so tired, and he just fell asleep. I hadn't seen him asleep since those first days, right after I escaped, and it was like my chest was exploding just from looking at him like that, and I…" she had to close her eyes for a moment to regain herself, "I looked at him and I wanted him to stay there forever. I did not know it then, but I think that's when I realized I loved him. And all that time with Max, talking about boys and what we wanted from the future, it… I don't want one without him. Is that silly?" 

He took a moment to answer. "I can't imagine a future without him either, so… no, it's not silly at all. Or maybe it is, and we're both nuts." 

El reached over to gently wipe tears from his cheek, and he smiled at her sleepily then. "I know you love him too," she said, "I hope you don't… you aren't mad at me, for that?" 

"Never. Never, El." He let out a shaky breath, and it was cozy, just the two of them breathing the same air, relaxing finally for the first time all day. "Sleep in here, yeah?" 

"Yeah." She reached over to turn off the light, bathing the room in darkness, and she took his hand slowly, intertwining their fingers as she settled, easily, heart warm with love and purpose. "Goodnight, Will." 

He sighed, somewhat content. "Goodnight, El." 

///

El stumbled into consciousness to the sound of birds chirping, almost obnoxious, and she shoved closer to Will, grumbling in her half-asleep state, attempting to absorb all his warmth. "Make 'em stop," she said, voice muffled, "too loud." 

Will groaned and curled up further into a ball. "Sh, sleepin'." 

Joyce was stood in the open doorway, silent. She had been ready to wake Will up first, then El, tell them she was heading into work, but the sight of them together had stopped her in her tracks. She missed Hop so fiercely in that moment: she missed what could have been. The kids could sleep in, she decided. She could write them a note. They needed each other in that moment more than they needed her, and that was alright. 

She turned, walked out, and closed the door behind her. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
